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Saturday, April 17, 2010

Papaya-Lime Fool - Pink Saturday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm really a mango person, but when life gives you papayas.....deal with it! Several days ago, a well-meaning friend gave me several red-hued papayas. It is not my favorite fruit for eating out of hand, so, I fell back on a recipe that I've had for years but rarely use. I decided to play the fool. While that's a role I relish and play well, I'm really talking about a Papaya Fool. This is an old-fashioned, but delicious dessert, that came to the Americas from England. It is a mixture of strained pureed fruit that is chilled and then folded into whipped cream. It's thought that the name comes from the French verb, fouler, which means to crush or press, though many would argue the point. These days any fruit can be used to make a fool, but in England the gooseberry was the fruit usually associated with this classic dessert. I know that many of you are not keen on using heavy cream in your desserts. A whipped topping will work here, but the finished fool will lack creaminess and feel different on the tongue than the real deal. If you are looking for a dessert that will bring the flavors of the Caribbean to your table you might like to try this. It's nice. It won't make your socks go up and down but it really is a pleasant dessert. The version of the recipe I use comes from Gourmet magazine. Here it is.

Directions:1) Mash papaya flesh with a fork until smooth or pulse in a food processor until coarsely puréed. Add 5 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons lime juice and stir or pulse to combine. Add more sugar and lime juice to taste (papayas vary in sweetness and acidity).2) Beat cream in a large bowl until it holds soft peaks, then fold in papaya mixture gently but thoroughly.3) Divide among 8 (6-ounce) glasses and chill at least 1 hour to allow flavors to develop.

53 comments
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I love papayas. I remember my parents planted a lot around the house when we were young. We had papaya everyday. Papaya taste awesome when plucked ripe. I really miss that. Sometimes we plucked the half ripen one to grate and cook with anchovies and that is very delicious. Thanks for sharing your lovely papaya drink. Have a lovely weekend. Mary

Thank you for posting this recipe! We are going to Cape Town, South Africa next month. Our friends serve us papaya whenever we visit them there. I am going to take this recipe and give it to our friends.

Mary, very cool to combine a little England with the tropical... very Empire of you!!! I think fools were a natural progression from syllabub like trifles... such a wonderful idea. I love your stories (you know how much I love history. I've always been a mango person too but if you say this is good... I'm in!!!

Nice recipe, Mary! We just returned from Guyana where papayas and mangoes grow in people's yards and can be harvested at the peak of ripeness. I'm betting you would have enjoyed experimenting with those and other fruit we never even see in America.

Mary, you were so kind to say a prayer for my little heart friends recently. Jillian is undergoing open heart surgery on Wednesday. Would you please offer up prayers for her at this time? Thanks so much!

I have heard of all kinds of flavors of "fools" (never knew the history before now) and this has got to be the most wonderful combination - papaya and lime, what a nice pairing. I do like papaya and will have to try this and look for more ways to use papayas and lime together. Thanks again Mary. Happy (Pink) Saturday.

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